The Government Commission on Legislative Activities supported the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia on liability for driving under the influence of “drug intoxication”, writing Vedomosti, citing an unpublished document. Automotive experts believe that such a law is designed to secure the roads and should have appeared a long time ago.
Alexei Kurinny, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, noted in a conversation with Russian media that the proposed changes are “an option to close the existing legal gap” in the Code of Offenses. (CAO) after a corresponding order of the Constitutional Court. At the end of November 2022, it prescribed the criteria for making drivers responsible for driving under the influence of narcotics.
Accordingly, the Ministry of the Interior proposed to amend Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Violations, which now provides penalties only for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. For such a violation, a fine of 30,000 rubles is due, as well as deprivation of the right to drive a car for a period of one and a half to two years.
“Certainly, a driving ban after using a number of drugs that reduce the reaction, cause drowsiness and other dangerous conditions for the driver is the right decision. The only question is the formation of a specific closed list of these substances. I don’t think there will be any problems with the police,” said the parliamentarian.
If the Interior Ministry initiative is approved, the Cabinet of Ministers will have to approve a list of substances or groups of substances for which car owners can be held liable. If the document is adopted, as part of the medical examination, drivers will be checked not only for alcohol and drugs, but also for the presence of drugs from the corresponding list in the body. According to Vedomosti, the bill has been agreed with the Ministry of Health, but it has not yet been submitted to the State Duma for consideration. The Department of Health did not respond to Russian media’s request at the time of publication.
File photoEmin Jafarov / Kommersant
As Maxim Yedryshov, head of the Avtomobilist public center, told Russian media, such amendments to the administrative code are needed primarily for the drivers themselves to understand which drugs can be taken and which cannot.
“That is, nobody traditionally reads the instructions for drugs, because they are quite voluminous, and moreover, there is some uncertainty in some drugs, for example, it is written that a vehicle must be driven with caution. What it is? Prohibit? No one knows and drivers sometimes drive at their own risk, unaware that they may be deprived of the right to drive,” he pointed out.
Automobile lawyer, founder of the Avtolikbez company, Dmitry Slavnov, added in an interview with Russian media that today a list of drugs prohibited for drivers already exists, but it has not been approved by the law. These include sedatives, antipsychotics, antidepressants, antihistamines, and many painkillers. Drivers can also lose their rights due to taking certain cold medicines containing codeine and phenylephrine, antipyretics containing chlorphenamine and pheniramine, painkillers including codeine phosphate, phenobarbital and other substances.
“On the Internet you can find which drugs are prohibited for drivers, they cannot be consumed. If the drug is taken “with caution”, most likely it has a cumulative effect, so you should also read the instructions and check the list of drugs that we prescribed as prohibited, ”Slavnov emphasized.
The amendments drafted by the Interior Ministry, according to Vedomosti, propose to introduce liability for driving a vehicle after taking drugs that “impair a person’s attention and reaction, but not related to alcohol alcohol, narcotic and psychotropic substances or their analogues”. These can include anesthetics, sleeping pills, antiepileptic and antiparkinsonian drugs.
“If a driver takes such drugs, it leads to the fact that he creates danger not only for himself, but for all car owners. Therefore, if this drug is prohibited for drivers, you should always pay attention to road safety and, therefore, do not take drugs prohibited for drivers, because all laws are written in blood,” added Slavnov.
Alexei Smagin / Kommersant
Yedryshov called the labeling of the drugs themselves the best way out of the situation, so that the person who bought them immediately understands what the consequences of taking such drugs are.
“Changes are certainly needed for drivers, because I hope it will become clearer which drugs can and cannot be used. So far there are many cases where people drink, for example, Corvalol, then they are told that they are intoxicated.Many cough tablets, for example, show that the person is allegedly drunk when he is not.The legal regulation of this area is currently just absent. Now everyone is trying to sort of rationalize, even though it should have been done a long time ago, but better late than never,” he is sure.
Alexey Kurinny stressed in a conversation with Russian media that if the inspector reveals signs of intoxication, disorientation, lethargy and the alcohol test is negative, a “further examination” will be necessary. “Only on the basis of the results of the study, a decision will be made, unless, of course, the driver himself admits to taking a prohibited drug. Mistakes are possible, but the risks to be avoided are greater great, ”assured the deputy.
To determine whether a person has taken contraindicated drugs while driving, a medical examination will be carried out, as in the case of alcohol and drug tests, Yedryshov confirmed. The driver will take a biological sample – blood or urine – and perform laboratory tests. However, according to Yedryshov, the government also offers to “take into account the clinical picture of intoxication.”
“That is, if the use of any medication has affected the psycho-emotional state of the driver. This can become a kind of guarantee that a completely innocent person will not be held responsible, who, perhaps be, got sick, he used Corvalol, he felt better and he left, ”concluded the expert.
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